(CNN) - Democrat Peter Shumlin was officially elected governor of Vermont Thursday in a joint session of the state legislature. He received 145 votes compared to 28 votes for the Republican nominee, incumbent Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie.

Though Dubie conceded the race shortly after the November 2010 election, the Vermont state constitution requires that the legislature elect the governor, lieutenant governor, and other statewide officials if no candidate receives a majority of the votes.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama enters the new year with a growing number of Americans pessimistic about his policies and a growing number rooting for him to fail, according to a new national poll.

But a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday also indicates that while a majority of the public says Republican control of the House of Representatives is good for the country, only one in four say the GOP will do a better job running things than the Democrats did when they controlled the chamber.FULL POST

(CNN) - The year in Washington began with Republicans complaining that President Obama and Democrats were ramming health care reform down their throats and ended with House Democrats complaining that Obama and Republicans were ramming a tax cut deal down their throats.

In between, there was a major shift in power as Democrats saw their short-lived control of Congress end in a midterm "shellacking," as Obama called it, fueled by the Tea Party movement on the right and a distaste for politics as usual in the middle.

(CNN) – The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled against Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller in his appeal, denying his claim that state law was not followed on counting write-in votes and setting up the very likely scenario that write-in candidate, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, will be certified the winner of the Alaska Senate race.

In the ruling, the Alaska Supreme court affirmed the decision of the superior court, saying, “There are no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified.”FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - How many people live in the United States, and in each state? And which states will gain congressional seats and electoral votes and which states will lose them?

These are all questions that the Census Bureau is expected to answer Tuesday, when it releases the results of the 2010 Census. The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census be conducted every ten years to accurately reflect the population shifts in the country. The new numbers spell out congressional reapportionment, as the states divvy up the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – It's been nearly 17 weeks since Alaska's Republican Senate primary and nearly seven weeks since Election Day. Could the end finally be in sight in the nation's last, undecided Senate race between Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican challenger Joe Miller? Ask one side and the answer appears to be: yes.

Murkowski's campaign said that the state could certify the incumbent Republican as the winner within days.FULL POST

(CNN) - Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller's challenge in the Alaska Senate race now moves to the state Supreme Court where oral arguments are scheduled to begin on Friday, following a new appeal by Miller's campaign.

Miller on Monday filed to appeal a ruling by an Alaska superior court judge which denied his challenge of ballots awarded to Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who ran as a write-in candidate.FULL POST

(CNN)- A state judge in the Alaska Superior Court has ruled against Senate candidate Joe Miller's challenge of write-in ballots. The ruling states that there is no proof of election official fraud, or that "there would be a sufficient change to the election results if these claims were true."

The ruling order is stayed until December 13 to allow for an appeal, but the Alaska Division of Elections has asked a federal judge to lift the stay and allow them to certify the Senate results in favor of Lisa Murkowski.